The oil and natural gas sector’s contribution to Brazilian GDP (Gross Domestic Product, which measures the amount of wealth produced in a country) increased from 3% in 2000 to 12% in 2010 and has attained 13% today. The main driver of this increase is Petrobras, which has an ongoing plan in place to invest US$ 220.6 billion during the period 2014-2018 and is looking to double the current level of oil production by 2020, when it expects to reach 4.2 million barrels of oil a day.

This and related information was emphasized during the presentation by Petrobras’ director of Gas and Energy, José Alcides Santoro, at the plenary session entitled "The industry's role in promoting development", which took place this Tuesday (June 17th), at the World Petroleum Congress (WPC), the global oil sector’s largest event, which is being held in Moscow, Russia, on June 15th-19th.

"Several of the country’s development indices have improved over the last decade and the oil and gas sector has played a positive role in this. The human development index, for example, rose from 0.67 in 2000 to 0.73 in 2012. The number of jobs in the sector has certainly also had a positive impact on the decline in the Brazilian unemployment rate, from 9.9% in 2002 to 6.7% in 2012," said the company representative on the panel, which was hosted by Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer Prize winner and vice-president of international consultants IHS.

Tags: Petrobras